The L.A. City Council "expects to vote" this week on whether the city should continue its quest to host the '24 Games, "setting the stage for a public airing of questions surrounding an Olympic bid that has been largely opaque for the taxpayers," according to Peter Jamison of the L.A. TIMES. City Council President Herb Wesson said that unless the city attorney objects, he "expects the mayor's office to disclose a number of documents connected to the bid that have so far been kept secret." These include "detailed financial calculations" for the $150M surplus that L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti "asserts the Olympics would generate." Wesson said, "I don't see how you can keep them not [public]. This is very important, and this could be an opportunity to build community trust." In response to Wesson's remarks, mayoral aide Jeff Millman on Friday night said that the city's Olympic bid proposal, budget and further documentation of pending legal agreements with the USOC "would be shared with council members before the vote" (L.A. TIMES, 8/22). Meanwhile, in L.A., Sandy Banks wrote, "We'd do well to look back at our last turn as Olympics host and consider what that deal returned." The city "still is reaping the dividends of that extravaganza, which ended with a surplus" of more than $232M. The city's share -- $93M -- funded the LA84 Foundation, "which for the last 30 years has bankrolled local youth sports programs" (L.A. TIMES, 8/22).
